Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi will not attend his planned visit to the White House if the talks to be held there with U.S. President Donald Trump include his plan to displace residents of the Gaza Strip, two Egyptian security sources told Reuters on Wednesday Sisi was invited to the White House when the two leaders spoke earlier this month but no date for the visit, was set.
Trump stunned the Arab world and sparked outrage when he presented a plan that included the removal of a large part of the Palestinian population from Gaza and the U.S. taking over the territory to rebuild it as a riviera. Trump said that Egypt and Jordan should take in the Palestinians, an idea that was widely rejected by the Arab states.
On Tuesday, King Abdullah of Jordan was hosted at the White House. In a statement alongside Abdullah, the American president said that the Palestinians will live safely somewhere other than Gaza.
Get the Ynetnews app on your smartphone: Google Play: https://bit.ly/4eJ37pE | Apple App Store: https://bit.ly/3ZL7iNv
"This is the unified Arab position," King Abdullah said, during his meeting with Trump at the White House on Tuesday. "Rebuilding Gaza without displacing the Palestinians and addressing the dire humanitarian situation should be the priority for all. Achieving just peace on the basis of the two-state solution is the way to ensure regional stability. This requires US leadership. President Trump is a man of peace. He was instrumental in securing the Gaza ceasefire. We look to the United States and all stakeholders in ensuring it holds."
Last year, the U.S. allocated $1.3 billion in military aid to Egypt, and in December it approved the potential sale of more than $5 billion worth of arms. "There is no supplier that compares to the Americans, which is why for so long Egypt has been happy to maintain this relationship, but it wouldn't be at the expense of their own national interest," said H.A. Hellyer, a senior fellow at the Royal United Services Institute.
Cairo is expected to present a three to five-year plan to rebuild Gaza without displacing its residents, Qatari media said on Wednesday. The plan will be presented at a summit meeting with leaders from Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the UAE, to take place ahead of the Arab Summit meeting scheduled for February 27.
live
U.S. President Trump with Jordan's King Abdullah
Sisi has repeatedly said Egypt would never facilitate the expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza, which Cairo would view as a serious threat to Egypt's own security, including by breeding extremism and providing a pretext for future Israeli attacks, as well as an injustice to the Palestinians.
Meanwhile, Hamas welcomed Jordan and Egypt's opposition to Trump's plan. "The Hamas movement appreciates the positions of our brothers in Jordan and Egypt, who reject the displacement of our people and confirm that there is an Arab plan to rehabilitate Gaza without displacing its people," the terror group said